The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-03-31

many of them kind and true. whole
! hearted and generous; extending a
helping hand to each other, and to the
stranger within their gates as we'll,
when misfortune comes, with a readi-
ness we will not find in many places.
There are many things about this
city which seem more foreign than
American, to interest and charm
chief among them are the lovely lovely
waters which surround it; beautiful in
clearness, exquisite in tints! Who
would wish for fairer sight than the
broad harbor, its waters sparkling with
beauty, dotted with little sailboats like
so many snowy birds of the sea, and
mayhap magnificent, proud, defiant
men-of-war, to give grandeur to the
scene? and when the eyes tire Of the
beauty of the vast expanse Of waters,
only turn of the bead will give you
another view, in its way equally as
charming in the city spread out before
you, with its white houses surrounded
by lofty cocoanuts, graceful palms, and
lovely, fragrant flowers. Such was
Key West, city of tropical beauty,
on which the glorious sun set on March
goth, 1886, but alas, before the setting
of another sun, how changed! She
had in years gone by withstood with
little injury the fierce raging of the
tempest, the destroying hand Of "the
pestilence that walketh in Darkness"
but when the fiery flames assailed her,
she bowed her head with bitter tears of
despair, and with folded arms SO pitia-
bly, helpless, yielded her fairest and
dearest to her insatiate foe. Oh it
was sight over which angels could
have wept, and which years only can
dim to the inward vision of man. Now
after the elapse of many months, l
never hear the wind blow, and sigh and
surge, without recalling the terrible
scene, the fierce winds which famed
the flames for our ruin. Awakened at
two o'clock in the morning from
peaceful sleep, in happy comfortable
homes, to rush out into the street in
wild despair; the people, women and
children fled hither and thlther for
safety, leaving all the household treas
ures to the mercy of the flames, which
were sweeping down upon them. In
many instances where efforts were
made for the preservation of house
hold goods, they were placed in the
streets only to be consumed little
latter on. When the day began to
dawn there was presented to view
picture that beggars all description;
the streets were filled with men,
women, and children, many of whom
had found refuge as they fondly
dreamed, in homes of friends and kin
dred, two and three times during the
night, only to be oversaken and forced
to seek further for resting place, pur-
sued as it were, hunted down by the
re5istless enemy. People of all colors
and nations, mingled together in the
crowded streets, bewailing some with
bitter tears, some with the Calmness
born of despair, their misfortunes to
others no more fortunate than them
salves-and still the flames rushed on,
sweeping all IN its way like some raging
demon, racing in and out of streets
and squares, in the strangest and most
unaccountable fashion; and not until
late in the afternoon, when it had
made charred and blackened path,
did it like some wild animal with a
raging thirst, quench itself in the beau,
tiful waters of the gulf
Rising from the ashes of the past,
deeply wounded but not mortally, the
"Island city will come forth in more
than its pristine glory-and when the
evergreen and fair flowers grow again
in the waste places, the beauty and at
traction shall still be here, and we can
again exclaim "Behold how fair she
isl" LOLA.